There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 229

Chapter 229: Chapter 222. Day of Contending Nerves (2)

Despite the displeasure, Zein still commanded Jock to provide their guests with drinks.

Not him, however. He had no intention of letting these men have the pleasure of seeing his face.

They started with the investigators recounting the events happening yesterday, from the auction to the instant outbreak that came without warning. Zein merely added the movement of Trinity members after the earthquake-like vibrations.

"We would like to know why you are separating yourself from the other member," the glasses man asked.

Zein openly scoffed at this inquiry. Inquiry--but they started this by accusing him already? "All of us are going to different places, so I’m not exactly separating myself," he said in a flat and dry tone.

"Understood," the man simply nodded, while the younger investigator made notes in his journal.

Zein observed that their role had been fixed; the glasses man asked the question, and the younger one made the note. It seemed that they still wrote down his answer even though there was a recording device already.

"I went to check on two things," Zein added, to explain why he was heading to the vault room.

"And that was..."

"My earring--ah, excuse me; my esper’s earring," Zein took the box that was nestled in the small table beside the couch where he put his book down.

They had planned to make that piercing so Zein could wear the earring to the banquet tonight, but it got delayed because the Association called Bassena over.

And now this.

The investigators glanced at the small velvet box, and then shifted their gaze back to Zein. "And the other one?"

"My friend’s older brother."

The younger investigator paused and looked up from his note, but the glasses man followed immediately. "You mean, Captain Han?"

"Yes,"

"Were you close?"

Zein tapped on his arm a few times. He wondered if they were actually suspecting him, since he was the one who immediately headed to the room. "We’ve met and talked on a few occasions. I know my friend loved his older brother dearly, so I was thinking of checking on both."

"Were you involved with the subjugation?"

"Not at all. It was all over when we arrived," Zein shrugged, before adding like an afterthought. "Ah, I did guide the Captain, as I had intended."

The glasses man paused for a bit by sipping on his drink--perhaps giving the younger one the time to write everything down. He also seemed to contemplate his next question for a while, before deciding on the topic after a minute. "And you were the one who found the exploding formation?"

"That’s a tricky one," Zein leaned back and tilted his head slightly to ponder his answer. "I realized something was weird from the barrier formation that I was familiar with. But I wasn’t sure what it was, because I wasn’t an expert on spell and formation," he explained. "I only knew where they were coming from, and the Association members were going to ask for support. But Glasswing came and one of them was an expert, so she took over."

"You could detect differences in formation without knowing about them?" Here, the one who asked was the younger investigator. Whether it was his curiosity, or because he was doubtful.

"No," Zein could see the glasses man’s eye twitched at how his junior chimed in the inquiry. "I could detect the difference in the mana sequence that was used in the formation."

The glasses man seemed to want to say something, but the younger guy beat him to it. "Does a guide usually know how to do that?"

"They should be if they are trained well enough," Zein smirked, but only his piercing eyes could be seen, so it would seem like he was offended. "It’s in our trait to react sensitively to mana."

"Is that so?" _{freewebnøvel.com}

"You wouldn’t question it if you educate yourself first," Zein replied dryly, and this time, the glasses guy acted before the younger one could make a blunder remark again.

"My apologies," the man sighed. "Did you recognize any of the intruders?"

"I didn’t look at them clearly enough, since they were already on the floor, so I can’t say for sure," Zein shrugged, replying vaguely to make sure he couldn’t be indicted if it turned out he did recognize someone. Who knew--perhaps one of them came from the red-zone. Still, he had to make it so he looked innocent--which he was--so he added. "But from what I saw that night, I didn’t recognize them."

"I understand," the glasses man nodded again. "What happened afterward?"

"Glasswing took them into custody, and I guided Captain Han until my esper came to pick me up," Zein’s reply grew flatter and dryer, as if he got bored recounting all of the events again.

Still, the glasses man persisted. "And you went back to the hotel after?"

"Yes."

It was clear by this time that Zein had hit his patience milestones, so the man hurriedly said. "May I ask one more question?" and despite saying it like that, he didn’t wait until Zein agreed to throw the question out. "Who do you think would be behind this?"

Zein raised his brow. Did they ask everyone that? Did he ask that to genuinely look for information, or to bait a suspect?

If it was the latter, that didn’t sit right with him.

"I don’t know," Zein shrugged. "It’s my first time attending this kind of event, so I have no knowledge pertaining to forces that might want to do harm," he paused, turning his face toward the window where they could easily see the Association building. "Or forces that might know how to detect instant outbreaks."